maandag 28 mei 2012

Creating a SQL Server 2012 playground (part V)

Introduction

In this blogpost I''ll describe adding a second SSAS instance to the SQL Server configuration. I have already installed the multidimensional and Data mining mode during the installation of SQL Server 2012 (step Analysis Services Configuration). The second SSAS Server configuration that can be installed to the SQL Server configuration is the Tabular mode. With this Tabular mode it's possible to upload the powerpivot models to the Server (server level) and then it's possible to manage and secure  these models by IT. This is enhancing the Self Service BI concept: The business controls the (business) data and IT manages and secures it.

You could split the two modes to different servers: one for multidimensional and one for Tabular mode. In this case the processing of the different technologies can be separated.



This blogpost is one in a series of blogposts:
  • Creating a VM environment with virtualbox (part I).
  • Configuration of the domain controller (part II).
  • Creating AD users and installing SQL Server 2012 (part III).
  • Installation of Sharepoint (part IV).
  • Adding the tabular mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part V).
  • Adding the powerpivot mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part VI).
  • Configuring SharePoint Central Administration (part VII).
  • Installing Reporting Services Sharepoint mode as Single Server Farm (part VIII).
  • Installing MS SQL Server Powerpivot for Excel 2010 (part IX).
  • Installation of SSDT and the SSDT Power tools (part X).
  • Installation of Contoso and AdventureWorks databases (part XI).
  • Installation of Master Data Services (part XII).
  • Installation of Data Quality Services (part XIII).
  • etc.


Installing SSAS in Tabular mode

Okay let's install the SSAS Tabular mode, insert the iso in the virtual DVD player and run the setup again. Walktrough the setup support rules, the product updates, the install setup files and finally the follow window will pop up. Choose new installation of SQL Server 2012 and press Next.


Press a couple of times Next until the following appears:


Press Next.


Give the instance a proper name. I called it Tabular mode.


Next window is the Server Configuration screen where a user has to be entered (in case yo want to use specific domain users like i do). I decide to use the SSAS user


Proceed to the summary window and press Install.


And finally a succesful confirmation window is shown:


Conclusion

In this blogpost I've described the installation of the Tabular mode side by side with multidimensional mode.

Greetz,
Hennie

woensdag 23 mei 2012

Creating a SQL Server 2012 playground (part IV)

Introduction

We have setup the basic software (OS, SQL Server and the DC VM) for creating a SQL Server 2012 playground in part Ipart II and part III. In this blogpost I'll describe installing the Sharepoint Server 2010 SP1.  First I'll create a snapshot of the VM machine. The installation of Sharepoint is easy  The heavy part is shifted to the Powerpivot configuration. This will be covered in a later blogpost.


This blogpost is one in a series of blogposts:

  • Creating a VM environment with virtualbox (part I).
  • Configuration of the domain controller (part II).
  • Creating AD users and installing SQL Server 2012 (part III).
  • Installation of Sharepoint (part IV).
  • Adding the tabular mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part V).
  • Adding the powerpivot mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part VI).
  • Configuring SharePoint Central Administration (part VII).
  • Installing Reporting Services Sharepoint mode as Single Server Farm (part VIII).
  • Installing MS SQL Server Powerpivot for Excel 2010 (part IX).
  • Installation of SSDT and the SSDT Power tools (part X).
  • Installation of Contoso and AdventureWorks databases (part XI).
  • Installation of Master Data Services (part XII).
  • Installation of Data Quality Services (part XIII).
  • etc.


Installation of Sharepoint 2010 SP1

I've downloaded the Sharepoint 2010 SP1 iso and opened it in the VM. The first step is installing the prerequisites.


Installing the prerequisites of sharepoint.


And that takes some time.


In the next window we have to choose between Standalone or Server Farm. Stand alone will install SQL Express on the VM and sharepoint will use this database. If you chooose for the Farm option Sharepoint will use an existing SQL Server instance. In a former blogpost I've described a full installation of SQL Server. I'll use this installation and I decide to choose the option "Server Farm".


And the installation proceeds...


The last step in the installation process is unchecking the sharepoint configuration wizard. In one of the later blogposts I'll show that the powerpivot configuration wizard will do this too.


As recommended in some blogposts it's time to run Windows update because we have installed quite some software. The following screenshot shows a total of 69 updates.


Conclusion

The basic installation of sharepoint Server 2010 SP1 is very easy but more difficult steps has still to come.

Greetz,
Hennie

zaterdag 19 mei 2012

Creating a SQL Server 2012 playground (part III)

Introduction

In this blogpost I've entered the 3rd step in the series about creating a SQL Server 2012 playground. In this blogpost I'll describe the installation of SQL Server 2012. In the first two blogposts i've described creating the VM enviroments with VirtualBox and installing the domaincontroller. The foundation of the environments are ready and the domaincontroller is ready for usage. In this blogpost I'll describe creating the domain users and installing SQL Server 2012 Developer Edition on the VM.



This blogpost is one in a series of blogposts:
  • Creating a VM environment with virtualbox (part I).
  • Configuration of the domain controller (part II).
  • Creating AD users and installing SQL Server 2012 (part III).
  • Installation of Sharepoint (part IV).
  • Adding the tabular mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part V).
  • Adding the powerpivot mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part VI).
  • Configuring SharePoint Central Administration (part VII).
  • Installing Reporting Services Sharepoint mode as Single Server Farm (part VIII).
  • Installing MS SQL Server Powerpivot for Excel 2010 (part IX).
  • Installation of SSDT and the SSDT Power tools (part X).
  • Installation of Contoso and AdventureWorks databases (part XI).
  • Installation of Master Data Services (part XII).
  • Installation of Data Quality Services (part XIII).
  • etc.



Create users in DC

First we need to create some users that I need for the installation of SQL Server (and for later sharepoint). So go to Start and start up the Active Directory Users and Computers.



Go to the Users section.


And add the AD users SQL, SSRS, SSAS and Sharepoint


don't check that users must change their password at the next logon and check that passwords never expires.

A confirmation window is shown and press finish.


Finally, all users are created and the Users section looks like this:


Installation of SQL Server 2012 

In this paragraph I'll descibe the installation process of SQL Server. The AD users are created and we ready for the installation. When you get your hands on SQL Server 2012 click on the install file to open the SQL Server Installation Center. I will not cover all the options, possibilities and stepts in the installation. I've done this before when I posted blogposts about the installation of SQL Server 2012 CTP0, CTP3 and the RC0. If you're impatient (and don't want to discover all the options), click on the Installation link on the left side of the menu. Since I'm installing everything on a single server, I click on the option to install a new stand-alone SQL Server version. AFter a couple of windows the following window shows up.



At this point the installation will check some Setup Support Rules. If you did not restart your computer after you ran some Windows Updates you may require a server restart. 


On the next screen I select all of the features that I would like to include on my SQL Server 2012 playground. Perhaps in a normal production environment the services like SSAS and SSRS is distributed among multiple servers but for now, it's enough to install all the features on one VM environment.


I run into in an error. I forgot to install .NET framework 3.5.1.


I have to start up the server manager and add the role .NET framework to the VM environment and start the installation process all over...


Now everything is fine. The installation process can proceed.


The following Server Configuration screen is very important. This is where we determine which accounts will be used in order to run each of the related SQL services. Fortunately we have created the users in a former substep in Sharepoint (see former paragraph) and therefore this configuration step is fairly simple. I've created a couple of AD users: SQL, SSAS and SSRS and I'll add them as follows. Click Next.



Now we need to configure the Database engine. I add the local administrator, DC administrator and myself as a SQL administrator.



Now, we need to configure Analysis Services. I already know that I am going to need three instances of SSAS on this server, I always choose to install the Multidimensional and Data Mining Mode. This is the standard version of Analysis Services.


In the next step I configure Reporting Services. We have two situations in the following window: native and sharepoint integrated. That's because we have said earlier in the installation process that we want both. Choose Next.


And after a couple of windows the following summary window is shown. Click on "Install" if you're satisfied with the selected options.


Conclusion

Well, The installation is done and it went smoothly. Well, I forgot the installation  of .NET framework 3.5.1 ;-) Next step is the installation of sharepoint 2010.

Greetz,
Hennie

vrijdag 11 mei 2012

Creating a SQL Server 2012 playground (part II)

Introduction

This is the second blogpost in a serie of blogposts (part I) about building a SQL Server 2012 playground. Well, it was a bit challenging building the VM's with a domaincontroller using virtualbox and sysprep and setting up the networkadapters and IP addresses. In this blogpost I'll describe the setup of a domaincontroller with two Virtual box environments.

For some software (e.g. Sharepoint) a domain account is needed. For instance, the powerpivot integration with sharepoint needs a domainaccount. Therefore we need to setup a domain controller. One advantage is that the services can run under a different AD user also.

According to wikipedia a domain controller (DC) is "a server that responds to security authentication requests (logging in, checking permissions, etc.) within the Windows Server domain. A domain is a concept introduced in Windows NT whereby a user may be granted access to a number of computer resources with the use of a single username and password combination."

Apologizes for some dutch screenshots.



This blogpost is one in a series of blogposts:
  • Creating a VM environment with virtualbox (part I).
  • Configuration of the domain controller (part II).
  • Creating AD users and installing SQL Server 2012 (part III).
  • Installation of Sharepoint (part IV).
  • Adding the tabular mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part V).
  • Adding the powerpivot mode instance to the SQL Server installation (part VI).
  • Configuring SharePoint Central Administration (part VII).
  • Installing Reporting Services Sharepoint mode as Single Server Farm (part VIII).
  • Installing MS SQL Server Powerpivot for Excel 2010 (part IX).
  • Installation of SSDT and the SSDT Power tools (part X).
  • Installation of Contoso and AdventureWorks databases (part XI).
  • Installation of Master Data Services (part XII).
  • Installation of Data Quality Services (part XIII).
  • etc.


Cloning the VM

In order to setup a domain controller, the first step is to create a clone of the VM that is created in part I. Right click on the VM in VirtualBox and click on clone. If all is well a perfect clone is created.


The next step is to provide the enironment with a proper name. I choose to name it : "DomainController". The next option is to reinitialize the network card with a new MAC Address.


The next window is about choosing a linked clone and a full clone.  I choose for the option "linked clone". In a article of Jonathan Kehayias more explanation is given about these options.


Remove networkadapter 3 and 4 and run the VM because the Domain controller will not have setup a iSCSI (and perhaps the SQL Server 2012 playground too ;-)

Now there are some possible directions you can take. You can partially set up a IP configuation for the networkadapters now or you can do this later. I've chosen to configure this in a later stadium.

Setup the domaincontroller

To begin the configuration of the Active Directory Domain Services you need to add a role to the server. In the Servermanager window you can select a role and add them to the configuration. After this is installed, run dcpromo to begin the configuration of the AD domain to the server.


Windows begins checking if the domain controller is installed on the Vistual Machine.


After the verification the installation process takes place.


The following window appears:


Press next and proceed to the next window.


Choose to create a new domain in a new forrest and press next.


Choose a Fully Qualified Domain Name for the new domain and then click on the Next button.  I have called it "YellowMonkey.dc".


Press Next and choose the right Forrest functional level. I choose Window Server 2008 R2.


Choose  a DNS server configuation for the server.


A warning appears on the screen and choose "Yes" and proceed to the next window.


Proceed with a click on the "Yes" button.


Proceed with a click on the "Next" button.


Enter a password twice and press on "Next".


A summary window is presented which summarizes al the information of the previous windows.



Below a couple of screenshots during the installation.


Here another window.


Yet another screendump.


And again a sceenshot.


And finally, finished.


A reboot of the server is required.


Setting up the configuration (IP, Computer)

I've noticed that setting up the networkadapters and theIP addresses are very important for setting up the VM environments with a domain conroller. An article that helped me understandig setting up the IP addresses is available on Technet.

Below i've configured the Computername.


Yet another screenshot of how I configured the different networkadapters in the VM environment. If you have more than 1 networkadapter, I advice to add one at a time and rename the standardname that Windows provides, add another networkadapter and rename it again.




Below a screenshot on how I've configured the networkadapter on the Domaincontroller environment:



This is the configuration on the SQL Serverplayground VM:





Here the configuration of the IP address of the DC networkadapter. Here you can see that preferred DNS Server points to the IP address of the networkadapter on the other VM machine.



And below you can see that we've reached the end goal. Now, we can add users from the Domain controller on the SQL Server 2012 playground.



Conclusion

It's the fist time i've done this and i've have to admit that i've installed the VM a couple of times because i've mixed up the steps or didn't use sysprep in the right way. Beware! One lesson i've learned is that if the sysprep is not done right a double SID is in the network and that gives a lot of troubles.

Another lesson is that the netwerkadapters needs careful configuration. Don't mix up the netwerkadapters because that gives a lot of troubles too. I've added them one by one and renamed them to NAT (for instance), reboot, add the other adapter (for instance DC), reboot, etc.

It's great to see it working.

Greetz,

Hennie